Police laid more than 400 charges at another huge car rally in Wasaga Beach
There's nothing that can ruin a beautiful sunny weekend at the beach quite like a hoarde of hundreds of stunt drivers revving their engines and getting up to their usual noisy (and dangerous) antics, which was exactly the case this last weekend in Wasaga.
Throughout the pandemic, street racing yahoos have continued to host large gatherings of thousands to show off their modded vehicles and sick maneuvers, which include anything from donuts and smoky burnouts to shooting fireworks from passenger's side windows and lighting the road on fire, for some reason.
Stunt drivers went absolutely wild in Toronto this weekend and people are done https://t.co/Uup8eYfUIu #Toronto #StuntDriving pic.twitter.com/vyzKcoh3wh
— blogTO (@blogTO) September 15, 2020
The public has been generally extremely unimpressed with these meetups — most of them illegal under lockdown restrictions, which as recently as June prohibited outdoor gatherings of more than five people — not only due to the disruptive stunts and crowds, but also the blatant disregard for public safety as far as both driving and COVID-19 is concerned.
Unfortunately for residents of Wasaga Beach, the lakefront locale has been the location of a number of car rallies with this sort of behaviour, including this time last year, when police struggled to control more than 1,000 attendees in the town of just upwards of 20,000.
Car buffs were at it again from Friday to Sunday, when the Central Region division of Ontario Provincial Police reported a whopping 439 calls about a meet in Wasaga, as well as nearby Springwater and Clearview.
Shocking yet not surprising. What's up with stunt driving ? Its out of control 😩😡
— Rick Edwards (@EddieUxMan) September 27, 2021
A total of 383 charges were laid and 70 vehicles towed, some for mods that rendered vehicles unfit for the road, some for stunt driving and some for having impaired drivers behind the wheel.
"Please drive safe, respect our communities," the force tweeted on Sunday as the community gave their support for the officers' work.
"Thank you so much for your efforts to make our shared roads safer and better," one person tweeted in response.
"My folks live there and I know they are very appreciative of the OPP and their efforts, especially this weekend...so thanks !," another added.
Big Shout Out to #HurWOPP, WB Bylaw Enforcement, and especially WB Council for ensuring that a strong presence, plus proactive enforcement contained a highly possible out-of-control gathering of “car enthusiasts” this weekend. 👏👍
— rtd8450 (@rtd8450) September 26, 2021
Despite authorities ramping up their presence and warning people in advance not to attend, massive crowds showed up to pack parking lots and roads anyways, some members of which were seen in various videos shared across social media scuffling as they were apprehended by police.
Meanwhile in Toronto, the city has finally started cracking down on noisy Fast & Furious-style driving this summer with a new campaign.
Join the conversation Load comments